FMA AR Fic
by DashieC
Summary: An AR fic. I hope to improve my writing, of course, and have an author's note in the beginning to let you all know what kind of comments I would like; please be polite to one another, and me of course, and be constructive! Thank you, and read on!


Authors note: This is my first time writing in a long time, I feel as if I go too far into detail. I appreciate all thoughts and comments to help better my writing to make it more pleasing for _YOU_! Also, taking title suggestions for this story.

"Oh God….what is this headache?!" Alphonse complained loudly, gripping his head. "W-wait-Brother! It worked! You did it! Now I can use my alchemy to-brother? Ed?"

Al looked around for his elder brother, Edward, but could see no signs of him. "Edward," He called out, "this isn't funny! And where'd all the homunculi go?" No signs of them either. Thinking aloud, Alphonse Elric, the younger of the famous Elric brothers (world-renowned alchemists), attempted to assess the situation. "So, I have my body back…" He looked down, checking himself, fully clothed, out. "Not sure how old I look-but, it's me, no doubt!" He chuckled to himself before resuming, "Alright, the transmutation circles are gone, most likely burned out by the Philosophers Stone. The homunculi have vanished, and Edward is missing. I hope he's alright, but maybe he just went ahead? That has to be it, I can't have been asleep for long…" He tried to reason with himself, to fully comprehend what was going on, but he had no idea of how much time had passed within the underground city.

Just as he prepared to exit the grand hall into the main city, he saw a red garment, nearly missing it as it was next to the red curtains by the stage. "Edwards coat!" He exclaimed, running towards it, only to find it empty on the floor. "Empty, of course. But Ed never leaves his coat anywhere!" He was thoroughly puzzled by this, but noticed one small detail; or rather, one small kick. "It….it's not empty!" Upon picking it up, he found a small body in it, not quite an infant, but definitely a small child, no older than three. His eyes widened, gasping as sighted the thick golden locks the child had, and though the child slept on, he had a feeling its eyes would be revealed to be topaz. The same topaz as his brother's.

He carefully picked the child up and carried him, swaddled in the coat to the point of not being visible to anyone but Al, and moved as quickly as he dared, not wanting to disturb the sleeping kid, and meandered about until he found the elevators, still functioning. As he rose out of the depths of the bowels of Central, he looked down at the child, snoozing with quiet noises and an occasional movement, and thought to himself _it can't be…_

He emerged into the cellar of a basement-dark, damp, musty, and all-over creepy. He shuddered and made his way into the street, looking this way and that for Central Headquarters-with the spotlights shining into the night sky, it wasn't too hard to find, and so he made his way there.

"Listen kid, SCRAM, before we have some trouble here." The officer said, spitting the word kid as if it were an insult, blocking the stone steps to the main building. "State alchemists and officers ONLY."

Alphonse, thinking quickly, growled angrily and gave his most threatening look before, as loudly as he dared, shouted at the officer, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO PUNY YOU'D COULDN'T SEE ME 10 FEET AWAY WITH A TELESCOPE?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! No guesses?! I guess low ranking punks like you wouldn't recognize the FULLMETAL ACLEHMIST?"

The man, stunned, and surprised by the outburst, tried to remember…. Fullmetal: Kid-check. Blonde-check. Short-check. Passing the brief inspection, he stepped aside "Of course not, my mistake Mister Fullmetal Sir!"

Al stomped up the steps and sweatdropped, surprised nearly as much as the guard that his trick had worked. And through all the commotion, the child slept on, apparently exhausted. Al began running through the halls, trying to remember the way to Mustang's office-he had been there not a month ago, how could he forget?

Upon finding it, lights still on, he marched right on in, only to find a gun in his face. "Who are you, and who let you in? We just got a report that Fullmetal was back, but you're damn-sure not him." Came the voice of Riza Hawkeye, owner and holder of said pistol. Mustang was at his desk-most likely doing all the paperwork he SHOULD have done over the month-he procrastinated again.

"Okay, I'm not Fullmetal-"Al was quickly cut off by Riza, who cocked the hammer of her gun.

"Damn right you're not, so cut the bullshit. _What is your name?_"

"It's me, Al! We…won I guess, the homunculi are gone. And the Philosopher's Stone is gone."

"No one else knows about the stone, so it must be you Al!" She put the gun away, pulling him into a crushing hug. "I've been waiting to do that-you're smaller than I thought, aren't you 14?"

"I am….chronologically. Physically, I don't know, I _do_ know that if I were 14 I would be taller than Ed," he chuckled to himself, before stopping himself. "But I don't know what condition he's in. I couldn't find….Edward as you know him, as the Fullmetal Alchemist, but I think I found him as the brother I knew." He offered up the bundle, and Riza peered in cautiously.

"Uh….is-is that him, is it Edward? The hair-Mustang, come see this! I think he might actually be Fullmetal."

Mustang let his feet drop from his desk, already captivated by the scene before him, and walked towards them slowly, peering down. "Well, looks like the kid we know as Fullmetal _somehow_ got punier!" He grinned down at the sleeping baby, before receiving a sharp kick to the shin from Rika. "Ow-Hawkeye!"

Despite having kicked her superior officer, she was not regretful, and she got up close to his face, threatening him, "Pardon me, _sir_, but I won't have you talking about Fullmetal in such a way."

"You're right, you're right…. In fact, if you're so personally invested in this _case_ I'll have the paperwork filled out by morning and they can be, _yours_." He said, matter of factly poking her in the chest.

She, fuming, stayed silently and led Al and the baby to Roy's desk, seating him in Roy's chair. "Alright, Roy, if that's what you want. But I will NOT do it alone, besides, this isn't a case. As he's under even the age of consent, he is no longer part of the military, so I believe he's going to need a place to stay. Our team's quarters will be a fine temporary place."

And so it was-the boys were given a bed in the crew quarters, and were situated orderly by the time the rest of team had come to go to bed. He was reintroduced, in his new body, to the teammates, and they all took an interest in the snoring coat on the top bunk.

"Well, I think it's Ed…" Al explained, telling the story of the homunculi, the Philosopher's Stone, and Ed's….revival, following his fight with Envy. That was as far as he could remember before realizing he was alive, remembering his splitting headache that he had been so thankful for.

Havoc just nodded and lit his cigarette, smoking it idly, not caring that he's indoors. "Makes about as much sense to me as the rest of that alchemy stuff. If it IS him, I wonder what he got in return for this? Equivalent Exchange and all that…" He trailed off, smoke rising to the ceiling.

Fuery had climbed up to the top bunk and was coochie-cooing to the baby while it slept, the baby giggling and moving whenever Fuery made his silly noises. He looked down when he noticed the silence, following Havoc's musing, "Uh, yeah, I was wondering too." He then dropped down, and rubbed the back of his neck, red from embarrassment.

"Alright, I will officially take office as Fuhrer in a week's time. We have a long few days ahead of us, I suggest we all try to get some sleep," Roy said, eying the boy that had once been a suit of armor.

"Yes sir!" They responded, all climbing into their bunks and turning off the lights, none knowing quite what to think of their peculiar situation, nor of what tomorrow might hold.

Al awoke in the dark, hearing whimpering, and lighting the candle on the desk next to him, he searched for the source of the noise. He identified it as coming from the bunk "Ed?" He asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily and yawning, "Edwaaard?" he repeated.

A little head soon peered over the edge of the bunk, and a nervous face could be seen in the candle light. "W-who are you? And how do you know my name?" He whispered, flinching at the Falman's sudden, loud snore.

"I'm Alphonse, you can call me Al though. It _is _you Brother…" He whispered, eyes wide. "Anyway, what's wrong?"

"But Awu is my WITTWE bwuddew. You'we big." He said matter-of-factly, but still curious.

"It's a long story…you still haven't told me what's wrong, y'know. I bet you're probably just scared, I know I would be." Alphonse stood up and grabbed his brother, sitting him on the bed and shuddering, "And you're FREEZING, Ed….And still naked. Right."

Ed drew the warm blanket up to his chin and blushed "M'not scawed…."

Al giggled at him, seeing a little of the stubbornness he knew his brother had. "How about you sleep down here till morning, okay?"

Ed, already partially under the blanket nodded slowly, and scooted towards the wall, and Alphonse climbed under the covers. Just to be sure, Al asked his brother "You don't wet the bed, right?" In response Ed just yawned and shook his head.

"Big boy!" He explained to Al as he went under the covers, already trusting this boy that called him his brother.

"Good night Ed!" Al exclaimed, happy to be reunited with his brother-albeit in a different way than he had expected! Ed didn't respond, already snoozing again as he warmed quickly under the warm blankets, latched onto his brother tightly, as if to be sure he weren't leaving.

Al woke up before Ed, Black Hayate's whiskers tickling his face as he took in the new scent, but his animal instinct seemed to help him recognize Al, as he remained silent, wagging his tail as he sniffed. "Hi Black Hayate-"Al began, cutting himself off when he noticed the crew standing around and staring intently at he and Ed. "Um, hi guys! I learned that it IS Ed, if any of you wanted to know."

Roy nodded, "Who else could it be, in all honesty? Falman, fetch the boys some fresh clothes."

"Sir yes sir! But, uh, where from?" Falman asked, scratching his head nervously.

"I don't know, buy some? I really don't care where you get the clothes from, just make it quick!"

"Yes sir!" Falman responded with a salute, sprinting out the door, fearing what would happen if he were to have simply walked away.

Riza tapped Roy on the shoulder, and asked him, "Do you think I should go with him? God knows what he'd dress these poor boys in. Probably military uniforms." She said, facepalming at the thought.

Roy thought for a second before responding, "No, I think he can handle. And what's wrong with military uniforms?!" He shook his head, "Besides, you're a girl-I mean, a strong, independent woman!" He quickly amended, "I think we might need you here."

Hawkeye seriously considered shooting him in the foot, but decided against it-he was probably right, how bad could Falman do?

Al simply lied there with his brother, his brother stirring slightly at all the talking, and they awaited Falman's return.

Falman returned with fresh clothes, a near exact match of Al's current outfit, and a simple red shirt and jeans for Ed. "Not too bad, huh? I thought he might like a red shirt, you know."

"Not bad at all!" Riza praised, "Maybe you should be the official shopper for our squad! Now, it's 8:00-how about a coffee run Falman? Black for me."

The others chimed in their orders as Falman went red in the face, and Al giggled despite feeling bad for the guy, and Falman soon left to do his errands. Al got up, and Riza excused herself so the boys could get dressed, and Al folded his dirty clothes, putting them in the hamper labeled "Falman" and chuckled again. "Do you ever feel bad for Falman, guys?"

"Nah, not really." They all agreed, and chuckled to themselves, and turned around to let them change, occasionally peeking at Ed-not sure if they' ever get used to him being like this, or if he'd ever be 'normal'.

Al poked his newly little brother until he woke up enough to comply, letting Al dress him as he rubbed the remnants of sleep from his eyes. Ed, now awake and dressed kicked his bare feet, swinging over the edge of the bed. "Awu? I'm hungwy…"

Al promised to get him some breakfast, Fuery laughing at Ed's voice and poor pronunciation, even as Havoc smirked and Roy smacked the back of both their heads.

At the sound of the smacks, Ed, still on edge in this totally new situation, clung to Alphonse. The squad all left the room, and with Riza were reunited for the first time in a long time-plus Alphonse, the poor dear was only considered part of the squad, never officially working for the State. Alphonse stood and stretched, lifting his brother up to his shoulder and began walking to the mess hall to get breakfast like he promised, the squad just a few steps behind them. Edward frequently peered over Al's shoulder at the military group following them and nervously waved at them. Fuery waved back very enthusiastically, being a goofy guy, Havoc lit his cigarette before giving a single wave of recognition back to Ed, Breda didn't seem to notice, too focused on getting food, Riza beamed at him, and Roy, last and least, just inclined his head slightly.

As they entered the rowdy hall, the room became quieter, all eyes on Alphonse and the child, who had been identified as Fullmetal across base by now. A few sharp looks from Mustang and Hawkeye (as well as a few silent death threats) the conversations resumed. As they were seated, Al noticed Ed was looking down, hands in his lap. "What's wrong, Ed?"

Ed looked up at Alphonse pitifully and whispered to him "Evewyone got quiet when we came in….am I not supposed to be hewe?" He seemed genuinely scared, like he were out of place, and so Alphonse took his hand.

"All these people sitting with us are our friends, you don't have to worry about anyone else, okay?" Al responded reassuringly. Ed just nodded and eyed the squad, who were still standing and shooting looks at other people, until Riza broke the silence.

"Al, stay here with Ed. I'll get you two breakfast, alright?"

He nodded, "Thanks Riza, I appreciate it." And a she went Breda and Havoc went too, Roy and Fuery taking their seats at the table.

Breda and Havoc, on their way to follow Riza called back to Roy, "We're just getting breakfast. Just keep an eye on little chief." To which Roy nodded in response and awaited Falman's return from his coffee trip.


End file.
